Survivors
by Sun Elen
Summary: What will the Mutant X team do now that The Dominion has Adam? They need answers and they better find them fast before their time runs out.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters from Mutant X. They are the property of Marvel Studios.

* * *

**Questions**

_In a safe house. _

"Now, what do we do?" Lexa asked her team mates.

"I know. Things are not looking very good right now." Jesse translated.

"Luckily for us, Adam had all his data stored in off-site servers in case Sanctuary was ever compromised, the only problem is we have to find where they are." Brennan added.

"What I still don't get is who the hell the creator is and how come Adam is his clone. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but the whole idea sounds very far fetched" Shalimar commented.

"But you saw it yourself, Shal, the guy looked identical to Adam, except perhaps the hair but they were the same. You know cloning is not impossible. And the Creator himself mentioned how Adam's parents have been his employees."

"I refuse to believe Adam is a clone, Jesse"

"Guys, lets focus on more pressing matters; we need to find Adam. Everybody here except Jesse is living under the instability of their genes" Lexa said to them.

"Sanctuary is destroyed, the Helix is gone and the Dominion's got Adam." Shalimar said.

"They think they've won but it's not over yet" Brennan added.

"It will if we don't move" Jesse said. "you know they are bound to look for us in here sooner or later. We can't stay here."

"True. We should take all we can from here and go back to that alley where I left the car before they took me to the Dominion's headquarters." Lexa proposed.

" OK. I need all the portable computers, we should probably take all the food and medical supplies, too. Until we know for sure what is going on, we should probably go into the underground. We can work from there and we'd be safer."

"Ladies, you heard the man. Gather everything we can carry and lets move out" Brennan said to Lexa and Shalimar. "Wait a minute Jess, Shouldn't we go back to Sanctuary and see if there is anything we can salvage from there?"

"No, Brennan. It's too risky. The Dominion won't rest until they've caught us"

"But if we are on the run, wouldn't Sanctuary be the last place we would go?" Brennan argued with the molecular "It certainly is not a sanctuary anymore."

"It's not a bad idea, Sparky" Lexa said trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm not sure, Lexa."

"People, if we are going to do it, we better get going, come on, Jesse, they wouldn't think of looking for us there" Shalimar admitted.

"Fine, but we just go in take a look around and then disappear for good until we figure out what we do next" Jesse had no choice. He was being overruled.

_

* * *

Sanctuary _

There was not much left. Sparks still flew from electrical cords. The core had been destroyed and the computers were down.

"This is really bad" Jesse said as he looked around for a port in which to plug in the computer he had brought from the safe house. He also had to find a way to reroute what little power was still left so he could turn on the computers.

"Come on, Jess, see what you can get from the mainframe, while Shalimar, Brennan and I go to the lab and though Adam's office"

"You've been through Adam's stuff, Lexa, when he first disappeared, remember. And you still have to see if you can get the power in that section of Sanctuary up and running."

"Maybe there is something I missed. I'll try to use what little power there is still left."

"OK. Go ahead and try" Jess said to her. He did hope she could find something that would help them. He had never felt so helpless and exposed. Everything they had stood for and everything they've fought for seemed to be dissolving before his very eyes and there was nothing he could do about it. Adam was not there to give him the answers he needed. True, he was cured but what about Shalimar, Brennan and Lexa. He couldn't loose them now when he needed them the most. As all these thoughts came into his head, Jesse was trying to interface Sanctuary's main computer with his own to see what info could still be saved and carried with them.

_

* * *

Lab_

Shalimar was trying to power up the computers in there, while Brennan was revising the medical shelves for anything that could be of use.

"Bren, how long do you think we have?" Shalimar asked the question she really didn't want an answer to but needed one.

"I don't know Shal. I don't even know what factors Adam used to estimate Jesse's expiration date" The elemental answered to his beautiful feral. He, like her, didn't want to loose her now that they had finally come clean with each other about their feelings. Brennan wanted, more that anything else in the world right now, to offer her a comforting answer, to assure her that everything would be fine, but he knew he couldn't. He left what he was doing and went and hugged Shalimar. She felt a wave of calmness come to her from Brennan's arms. She didn't want to let him go but they still had a lot to do. When shalimar broke the tender embrace Brennan kissed her softly on the lips and they both continued with their tasks.

_

* * *

Adam's Study _

Lexa was turning on Adam's computer, which had miraculously survived the assault on Sanctuary. She was using a USB drive to save everything that was on the computer so she could take it with them. She found a file on all the properties and safe houses that Adam possessed. She needed to find where he had sent all his research to. It wasn't going to be easy knowing how secretive Adam always had been. She also found some files on Brennan's, Emma's and Shalimar's instability. " I wonder if he ever try to cure me, too" She said out loud in a sarcastic tone. The she found a file on her, as well. "Well, at least I know he was trying". An idea had suddenly occurred to her.

_

* * *

Main computer area in Sanctuary _

"Hey, Jess, you said Adam was working on something when you went looking for him to that airfield. Perhaps we should check that out, too and see if we can gather the data he had there." Lexa told her idea to Jesse. It was all they had.

" That's not a bad idea. Did you find anything on Adam's computer?" The molecular asked.

" I don't know exactly what I found but I saved it all in the USB drive. I did find files on Emma's, Shalimar's and Brennan's gene instability, though" The chromatic said. "Have you been able to retrieve anything from Sanctuary's mainframe?"

"Yes, I'm almost done, actually, then I just have to upload a virus into the system to make sure nobody gets the data. You, know, just taking precautions"

"OK. I'm gonna go check on Shalimar and Brennan"

"OK" Jesse said.

_

* * *

Lab _

Brennan had managed to put together two camping-sized backpacks of stuff he thought might come in handy. Shalimar was finishing up copying everything from the computers into a USB drive. As Lexa walked in she saw how their tense movements and lost eyes reflected her own preoccupations.

"Hi, guys. How's it going here?"

"I've cleaned this room of everything we could use" Brennan answered her.

"I'm done here, too" Shalimar added in a resigned tone.

"Good. Jesse is almost done, too. Then he is going to load a virus into the mainframe to make sure nobody else has access to all the information we have in here. So, go to your rooms and collect the necessities and meet up with Jesse and me by the computers" Lexa told her team mates and she left the room.

Shalimar and Brennan followed Lexa out of the lab in silence and each headed for their respective dormitories without a word.

_

* * *

Shalimar's room_

When the feral entered her room, she saw a total mess. She focused on finding her personal laptop and some clothes along with some personal effects. She found a picture of the team when Emma was alive and another of when Lexa joined the team. She took both pictures in her hands and felt a wave of sadness as she realized she was leaving her home, maybe for the last time. She couldn't believe it had ended this way. She didn't notice when the tears sprung from her eyes. All she could think about was 'what is going to happen to us now?'. Brennan had collected what he needed from his room and when he saw Shalimar crying, he put his bags down and went to hug his precious feral. She held to him tightly as if he was her last hold to a life that was suddenly in pieces. He was her safe harbor. Brennan held her against him trying to comfort her. He was rubbing her back gently and silently wishing that this was all a bad dream.

_

* * *

Main computer area in Sanctuary_

Jesse was ready, now. Every one had retrieved what they needed from their rooms and it was time to take the final step.

"Jess, we're ready to go" Lexa informed him.

"Very well, then. I'm going to upload kanemutiny into the mainframe. We saw how effective that was. "

Everyone just stood there watching Jesse type commands into the computer. As he was about to hit "Enter" he looked at his team mates and they nodded. It all seemed to be happening in slow motion. As seconds went by, Jesse's finger hit the key. The effect was instantaneous. Random pictures and comments flashed across the screen of all the computers that were on in Sanctuary. They all turned around and went to the garage where they had parked Brennan's 2004 Cobra Mustang black convertible. They had also noticed that Jesse's BMW SUV X3 had survived and were taking it with them even though they would have to change cars as soon as they were a safe distance from the city. Lexa would be riding with Jesse in the SUV and Shalimar would be riding with Brennan in his convertible. As they all finished loading their several bags, they took one last look at what was left of their once safe Sanctuary.

Brennan started driving into the night with Jesse close behind him. Their last stop was the airfield.

_

* * *

Airfield_

"It looks safe to enter" Lexa said as she scanned the area for the Dominion's agents. Jesse and the rest entered the warehouse which was a total disaster. Jesse went immediately for the computer and set to work. Lexa, Brennan and Shalimar were just waiting for Jesse.

Fifteen minutes later, Jesse was done. "Same procedure" he told them.

"OK, time to go" Brennan said.

As they got into the cars, they knew they had a long path ahead of them and it wouldn't be easy an easy one. They started driving toward Chicago where the core of the mutant underground resided thanks to Adam. Brennan lead the way into the dark, uncertain road.


	2. Chapter 2 Part 1

**Disclaimer:** All the characters mentioned from Muntant X are the property of Marvel Studios.

* * *

Ch. 2- Starting Over- Part 1

_Two Hundred Miles North of New York; Canadian Territory, Outside of Ottawa_

_It was 4:45 am._

Shalimar and Lexa had fallen asleep and carried to the back seat of the cars by Brennan and Jesse, respectively. Both men were tired but they were looking for a dealer so they could trade in their cars. The plan was to plant a false lead that would point to them going north into Canada in case The Dominion was on their tail. After they had gotten new cars, they would head back south crossing Canada diagonally directly to Chicago. Hopefully nobody would track them.

_6:00 am_

There was a dealer just on the outskirts of Ottawa. Brennan had to wake Shalimar as much as he would've liked to let her sleep. She looked so peaceful that her sole presence was soothing to him.

"What's going on Brennan?" She asked sitting up.

"I found a dealer. You know we have to change cars so The Dominion won't track us" Brennan said to the sleepy feral.

* * *

"Lexa, wake up" Jesse said to Lexa while gently shaking her arm.

"What? It's still dark. Can't I sleep a few more hours? I forgot how many times The Dominion shot me with a tranquilizer. It's quite uncomfortable when you keep being drugged and woken up" Lexa said somewhat annoyed.

"Sorry, Lexa, but we have to ditch the cars. Brennan found a dealer and we have to go in" Jesse said to her.

"Fine!" Lexa said quite irritated

* * *

Both couples got out of their cars and headed for the doors to the establishment.

"I'm surprised it is open this early" Shalimar told the other three.

"Then again, it is highly convenient for the travelers that go through here and have the need for new cars" A man in a dark-blue suit told the feral. The salesman was tall with broad shoulders, green eyes and blond hair. Lexa was eyeing him in a way that made Jesse take the lead.

"Hi, there, we are looking for two new cars. We are moving to Ottawa and we thought it fit to get new cars" Jesse said to the man in a slightly hostile tone.

"I see, well, come this way Mr...?"

"Alexander Robertson, this is my sister, Alicia" Jesse said pointing at Shalimar. "And this is Leo Rochester and his wife, Anna" the molecular added pointing at Brennan and Lexa.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is Peter Smith. Please, come this way" The sales man added in a very pleasant tone that Lexa winked at Shalimar, who grinned back. Luckily, Jesse didn't see this.

_

* * *

Half an hour later._

"I think I'll be taking the Mecedes Benz SL600 in black" Brennan said. Shalimar had to admit that he had very good taste when it came to cars.

"I'll take the Lexus RX in black, too." Jesse said to Peter.

"Great choices. How will you be paying? I can device a suitable payment plan if you like" The sales man prompted.

"Do you accept money transfers?" Jesse asked in a very calm voice, claiming the man's attention that had been on Lexa a second before.

"Yes, of course. I'll take you to a computer terminal. Follow me" Peter said and led Jesse to a cubicle at the far end of the establishment. At Jesse's polite request, Peter left him to make the money transfers.

* * *

"Everything is in order Mr. Robertson. It's been a pleasure doing business with you" Peter said looking at Lexa. Jesse firmly and quite fast, shook Peter's hand. Lexa, along with Shalimar and Brennan were wondering how had Jesse paid for the cars. For all they knew The Dominion could've confiscated all their accounts and the ones they had been keeping active on Adam's name. It's true Jesse was a master hacker, but who's money could he be using?

"Thank you for your assistance, Peter." Jesse said.

"Yeah, thank you" Brennan added, while Shalimar nodded and Lexa look at Peter witha smile on her face.

"You're supposed to be married remember?" Shalimar whispered to Lexa, but she just grinned.

As they all walked out, with new keys to two new cars, Lexa asked what they had all been wondering.

"Um, Jess?"

"What's up?"

"How did you pay for the cars?"

"I'll admit, it wasn't easy, but I managed to hack into my family's holdings and made a transfer that looks like money's been sent to be invested. Initially, I checked our own bank accounts and, as it was expected, all our money is frozen except the accounts to Adam's name but that is just a trap. So I decided to "borrow" my own money from my family. I'm pretty sure that they won't find a trail, and if they do, we'll be far away from here"

They all knew that the "they" Jesse was referring to was The Dominion. Jesse was very clever, there was no question there, but it was still risky to bring in someone related to them if only remotely.

"Are you sure that was wise?" Brennan Asked.

"I'm pretty sure it was the only option I had and I'm pretty sure we'll be long gone before they track us here, besides, if they follow this false trail, they'll go into Ottawa and by the time they figure out it was a false lead, we'll be safely hidden in Chicago"

"Yeah, but what about your family? What will happen when they realize their money is missing?" Shalimar asked.

"The thing is, I borrowed MY money, which is technically being watched over by my father but safely put away in a bank account in the Caiman Islands. I'm sure it'll take them a while to figure out that the money is gone. Like I said, by the time my family or The Dominion find out where all that money went to, we'll be far away from here" Jesse replied quite pleased with himself. He was so proud of his most recent hack, it was impossible for the others to even doubt him.

"OK, Jess. Time to go every one" Brennan said bringing everyone back to earth. They had struck a deal with Peter to sell their cars. That establishment would be buying their cars and all that money would go into an account Jesse had set up in Chicago while he was paying for the new cars. So far everything was going rather well, all things considered.

"How long will it take us to get to Chicago?" Lexa asked Jesse.

"Well, we'll be stopping along the way only to eat, at the very least. I've calculated we could stop in Toronto, London, Detroit and South Bend, that's in Indiana. It will probably take about three days and we'll be alternating the driver's seat, so yeah, about three days" The molecular answered. Lexa was clearly not thrilled by the thought of having to spend three days cupped up in a car.

"I want to see how shalimar will react to that. She's the one here with feral instincts" Lexa said. Sarcasm heavy in her voice.

Shalimar wasn't very excited either, but what choice did they have? They couldn't stop for very long, not until they had made contact with the mutant underground.


	3. Chapter 3 Part 2

Finally Chapter 3 is here! Sorry it took me so long but It has been quite difficult for me to write. Anyway, please enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Mutant X characters.

* * *

Ch. 3- Starting Over-Part 2 

_Three days later_

"Park a couple of blocks away" Lexa said to Jesse.

It was early morning and they had just arrived at Chicago, Illinois. They were headed towards the Metra train station on Jackson Boulevard. Lexa knew they had to take every precaution and so, she had decided only one of them should make contact.

Jesse parked his new Lexus RX around the corner from the Sears Tower. Brennan followed his lead. Jesse would be the one making contact with the mutant underground. Once they had parked, Lexa and Jesse got out of their car and went to Brennan's.

"Good morning sparky. Shal, you look like you could really use a walk" Lexa said to a very irritated Shalimar through the window.

"Well, what did you expect after being trapped inside this tin can for three days!" Shalimar replied. "I swear, if I don't get out of the car in the next couple of hours, I'm gonna go insane"

"How about this: You and I go take a walk nearby and get something to eat for the boys" Lexa proposed.

"I'm so in!" Shal said quite excited at the prospect of stretching her legs properly.

" What about me? Are you just going to leave me here?" Brennan asked playing the 'hurt' role at being ignored.

"You have to stay here while Jess makes contact, you know, in case he needs you" Lexa answered.

"Right, fine, you two go ahead and leave me here to rot"

"Come on Brennan, don't be so melodramatic, besides, we do need to eat" Jesse intervened. "All right, you two be careful and hurry back. In the mean time, I'm gonna go into the station and see if Allison's still there. Brennan stay put" Jesse finished giving out orders and started to walk, rounding the corner and then walking west towards the train station.

"Great, see you later and good luck, Jess" Shal said to a retreating Jesse and she kissed Brennan before getting out of the car and following Lexa to a nearby Starbucks a couple of blocks east from their position. As they were walking Lexa remembered there was something she wanted to ask Shalimar but amidst the chaos, she hadn't been able to.

" So, Shal, when did that go down?"

"What are you talking about?" The feral answered quite puzzled.

"You and Brennan"

"Oh, that"

"Yes, that"

After a few seconds Shalimar answered. "It happened the day you got abducted. We had gone out and later on we found we have a limited amount of time and we decided we don't want to waste it anymore."

" I see" Lexa said deviously.

"What?" Shal asked with a smile on her face. Both women knew what the other was thinking.

" Well, I'm happy for you guys. Took you long enough, too!"

"Yeah, but you know how things have been for us for the past three years, just ups and downs. I think we now have the chance to make it work"

"I'm glad" Lexa said as they entered the Starbucks.

"Mmmm, smells delicious" Shalimar said. She missed her coffee in the mornings. It always warmed her up and helped her start the day in a good mood.

"What are you ladies going to have?" A woman asked them with a bright smile when they approached the counter.

" I'll have a Venti Vanilla Latte" Shal answered.

"And I'll have a Venti Caramel Mocchiato. And add these up" Lexa said as she placed four sandwiches on the counter and two canned, iced coffees.

"Anything else?"

"No, that'll be all" Shal answered.

"That's $33.60" The server said.

"Here" said Lexa handing the woman two 20 dollar bills.

Lexa and Shalimar left with two paper bags from Starbucks and started walking towards where Brennan was parked. But now it was Shalimar's turn to ask the same questions.

"So... You and Jesse seem pretty close all of a sudden" Shal said in a very casual tone that concealed her true curiosity.

"What?" Lexa thought her relationship with Jesse was the same as it had always been. Clearly, something had changed that had escaped her notice.

"Well, the way he reacted when you were flirting with the car dealer and how close you seem to be to him. Over the past few days you are closer to him physically than I have ever seen you" Shal said in a very matter-of-fact tone.

"I...Really? Is that what it looks like? I really haven't noticed" Lex said quite take aback by what Shalimar had just pointed out. "I guess it had to do with what happened while were at The Dominion's headquarters"

"What happened?"

"Well, after those bastards had gotten their fill from torturing Jesse, he basically was trying to tell me how much he cares about me" Lexa said calmly.

"What do you mean by 'basically'?" Shal inquired without drawing to much attention to the question.

"Well, I kinda cut him off but told him that I already knew what he was going to say" Lexa said cautiously because she had a feeling Shalimar was going to reprimand her.

" I see" Shalimar said sounding as if she were deep in thought.

"We were in the middle of a war. It wasn't the time or place for that kind of talk. I had to keep a cool head if I expected to get us out of there" Lexa said with a hint of pleading in her voice.

"I understand. What are you going to do now? For the sound of things, that conversation wasn't finished" Shalimar said. This time she could no longer keep the inquiring tone out of her voice.

" I know. Something tells me that Jesse will want to talk more about it once everything's settled" Lexa said looking up at the buildings.

"Lexa? Just be honest with him and don't hurt him" Shalimar said in a serious yet calmed tone.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt him" Lexa said in a voice that held no irony only honesty. She hadn't forgotten how protective Shalimar was of Jesse. 'I care for him, too' She thought as they were nearing Brennan's car.

* * *

**A/N:** I know you feel there isn't anything relevant here, but it is important for the couples' history. I promise not to take as long to update. Stay tunned. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Mutant X.

* * *

Ch. 4- The Meeting 

It was a windy day, like usual. Not for nothing Chicago was called 'The Windy City'. One of the entrances to Union Station was facing the Chicago River. Jesse glanced back and saw a few people heading towards their jobs down the street, others were going into the train station. He was there to make contact with Allison, an old friend who had gone into the mutant underground years ago and had moved with it when Adam had decided to move it to Chicago three years ago.

"Let's hope she's still there" Jesse thought to himself as he descended the stairs that led into the food court at the entrance of the station. There were many establishments with food and other stuff. If nothing had changed, she still worked at Corner Bakery.

Right outside of Corner Bakery there was a trash can with a secret button near the opening. Jesse pushed the button and walked to sit at a table that was in front of a large pillar and in plain view of the café. He waited with a sense of uneasiness. He was nervous that if Allison was no longer there, it would be very difficult to find the Underground ever again and they really needed their help and resources to locate Adam's servers. It had been his idea to contact the Underground and if they couldn't find it...

"Jesse?" A slender black woman in a Corner Bakery uniform was standing beside him.

"Allison? Thank goodness" Jesse said with an audible relief in his voice when he saw Allison. " I thought I wouldn't find you here, anymore" he said as he huged her.

"Well, we always said one of us had to be here as a contact in case something happened" Allison said when Jesse released her. She was quite happy to see him. It had been far to long since Eckhart had captured them and she had parted with the others to the city. "Has something happened?" She asked tentatively noticing how distressed Jesse seemed.

"That's why we are here" Jesse answered.

"We? you mean, Brennan, Shal, and Emma are here, too?" She seemed ecstatic at the prospect of seeing her old friends again.

"Not exactly. what time do get out of work?" Jesse said.

"In fifteen minutes, actually. I've been working all night"

"Great. I'll wait for you, then we can go somewhere else and I can tell you what is going on" Jesse proposed.

"OK" Allison said then she went back to her job.

_

* * *

Fifteen minutes later._

Both Jesse and Allison were walking out of the station. The weather seemed to be warmer now that the sun had fully risen.

"So, how's Adam?" Allison asked.

"Um... that's part of why we are here" Jesse answered. He was so tired from driving all night.

"What? Jess, what's going on? You're scaring me" Allison said, this time she was a little agitated. The excitement from a few minutes ago seemed to have ebbed away.

"Here, get in" Jesse said pointing to his car where Lexa and Shalimar were sitting in the front seat and Brennan was in the back eating. Jesse opened the door and went in after Allison.

"Brennan!" Allison said greeting Brennan with a hug. "Shalimar! It's so good to see you guys again" Allison said to Shalimar.

"I know. It's good to see you, too" Shalimar said.

"Allison, this is Lexa Pierce, the new member of Mutant X" Jesse said pointing at Lexa, who was in the driver's seat.

"Hi, nice to meet you" Lexa said.

"Hi " Allison replied. "But where's Emma?" She asked quite bewildered.

"Emma...died about a year ago" Shalimar said trying to conceal the sadness that sometimes overwhelmed her when she thought about Emma.

"Oh no..." Allison said in a whisper. "And where is Adam?"

"Adam is missing" Brennan answered her.

"What?" Allison exclaimed.

"Yeah, we're in a little jam, Allison" Jesse said trying not to sound too desperate.

"Guys, let's go somewhere else" Lexa suggested.

* * *

They had headed to Water Tower Place down Michigan Avenue, more precisely, to Foodlife, a collection of food stands in a courtyard in the third floor of the building. The place was packed, like every Sunday and almost every day. They were sitting at a table in a corner, near the window. Allison was so shocked and confused. She couldn't believe Emma was dead. She was still confused about the role The Dominion played and how they had abducted Adam. And what was that about their genes being unstable? The Creator, who was that? Sanctuary, destroyed? The Helix, gone? 

"I know is a lot to take in, Allison, but we need your help and we don't have much time" Jesse said in the calmest voice he could to try to soothe Allison a bit.

"Yeah, it is a lot" Allison said in a small voice.

"Will you help us, then?" Shalimar asked tentatively.

"Technically, all of our resources are Adam's so, therefore, they are his children's as well, meaning you. We were only caretakers" She replied with a small smile on her lips.

"Thank you" Brennan said. Lexa just smiled at her.

* * *

Their destination had been a parking lot building, south of the Water Tower place and then the headquarters, two stories under the actual five floors of parking space. 

"Here we are" Allison said as she opened the door to a safe house that looked a lot like the safe houses they had back in New York.

"Wow, looks like I'm home" Jesse said with a smile looking at Lexa.

"It was modeled after the original safe houses. We wanted to keep the tradition" Allison laughed at her own comment and so did everyone else. They were standing on a catwalk suspended in the middle of the high-ceilinged room, from there they could observe a few people working here and there at a computer or gadget or practicing their powers.

"This is headquarters, it has three floors and a lot of rooms, each one with its own bathroom. There is only about ten of us in this safe house. We have another two safe houses in the city. We relocate everyone from here. There are a lot of us in the city, actually. The rest are in nearby suburbs and neighboring states" Allison explained as they descended the stairs.

"That's good" Lexa said.

"So what do you guys want to do first? Allison asked.

"I'll like a shower" Shalimar said.

"Me, too" Lexa added.

"I have an idea. We can rest today and organize our stuff" Jesse said pointing to the bags that he and Brennan had in their hands. "And tomorrow, we can start on our work" he concluded.

"Sounds good" Brennan said.

"Ok. Let me show you where you will be staying" Allison said indicating to the stairs that led to the lower floors.

"Shal and I will be sharing" Brennan told Allison. Allison looked surprised but just smiled.

"No problem" she responded.

"Jess and I will share, too" Lexa said. Jess looked a little surprised but nodded. Brennan looked taken aback as if he had missed something really obvious. Shalimar gave Lexa an approving smile which Lexa returned.

In a sense, they were home. A new home were they could finally set to work without looking over their shoulders. And it would be hard, but they had to do it. For Adam's sake and for their own.

* * *

**A/N: **So it begins! Stay tunned for the next chapter. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mutant X. 

* * *

Ch. 5- First Lead

"Hey, has anybody seen Lexa?" Jesse asked to Shalimar and Brennan who were having breakfast in the kitchen in the second floor of the safe house. Brennan and Shalimar were seated along the counter having toast and orange juice. The molecular seemed a little flustered for the early morning.

"Good morning to you, too" Brennan asked with sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah, hi. Have you seen Lexa?"

"What's up, Jess?" Shalimar asked with a smile on her face.

" When I woke up, Lexa wasn't in the room" Jesse responded.

"Hey guys, did you sleep well?" Allison said as she entered the room and she walked towards the fridge to get a yoghurt. 

"Hi, Allison. Have you seen Lexa?" Jesse asked without hesitation before Shalimar or Brennan could say a word. 

"Yeah, she's downstairs working on something. She's been at it since four in the morning. She said she couldn't sleep" Allison responded to Jesse.Shalimar and Brennan just shared a smile of complicity. Jesse didn't wait for more instead he headed to the second floor.

* * *

"Lexa, I've been looking all over for you" Jesse said with a hint of relief in his voice that he concealed very well with one of scrutiny.

"I'm right here" Lexa said as if pointing out the obvious. 

"What are you doing? Allison said that you had been at it early" Jesse said trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Well, I started looking into all the nonessential contacts of The Dominion. Now that their main Headquarters have been destroyed, they probably will try to rally their forces" Lexa said in a perfect businesslike tone.

After last night, they were trying to play it cool. Jesse was attempting to fix their argument. But he knew that convincing the chromatic was going to take a lot of work but he wasn't about to give up. He would make her see reason, that there was a chance for them. It would be his task to change her mind. 

While Lexa typed, the memories of last night came to her.

_He shut the door and Lexa turned from the bed. She had been unpacking their stuff a moment ago. _

_"_Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" _Jesse apologized to the beautiful woman that was standing in front of him_. _If Lexa was being honest, Jesse looked incredibly good after taking a shower. But before he came in and snapped her from her ruminations, she had been thinking about what she had promised Shalimar: '_I won't hurt him'. 

_Those words still hung in her head, but now that she thought about it, nothing was certain. They didn't know if they would have time to make that work. Their lives were ticking and had a very fast-approaching expiration date that they didn't know. It seemed insanity to start something that they might or might not have time to enjoy. As much as she wanted it, now that she was no longer tied to The Dominion and was the master of her own life, she couldn't bring herself to say the words she knew she wanted to say with all her heart._

_They stood there looking into each other's eyes for what might have been an eternity. Jesse seemed to be gliding towards her, he was right in front of her. She could even smell him and it was mouth-watering. A will she didn't even know she had made her put herhands on his chest to stop him. _

_" _We need to talk, Jess" _Lexa said in a voice that couldn't quite leave the pain out._

_"_I guess we didn't finish that conversation" _Jesse said with resignation._

"No, we didn't" _Lexa knew one thing. They couldn't go any further until they knew they 'could go further'_. "Jesse, I'm not sure that what we want is even possible in this instance". _All color seemed to have drained from Jesse's face._

"Why not? You and I have feelings for each other. What else do we need?" _The molecular asked as if it was the simplest thing in the world. And it might have been had so many things not stood in their way._

"You are forgetting something. Your are the only one here who doesn't have to live under the shadow of impeding demise!"_ Lexa raised her voice when she noticed that Jesse didn't get her point at all. _

"I know that Lexa. Don't think I don't know what hangs in the balance. And I'm willing to go as far as you are to solve this problem and get Adam back, but I still see no reason for us not to try this out" _Jesse had a determination and a seriousness in his voice that Lexa had never heard before._

"You think it's all as simple as deciding to go forward, but how can you go forward when you don't even know if you are going to be alive tomorrow?"_ Lexa couldn't control the desperation in her voice. It was imperative that Jesse understood that it was better if they left that for another time and focused on getting Adam back. _"I will sleep in another room. Good night, Jesse." _Jesse couldn't say anything, he was at a loss for words. _

Once he had found the words she had already left the room. He had tried to sleep but it was very late when he had managed to do so and Lexa hadn't returned to the room. He had half- hoped that she had returned by the time he woke up, but it hadn't been that way. 

"Have you found anything?" Jesse asked bringing Lexa back to the present.

"Possibly" Shesaid as she focused on what she had been reading. "I managed to find this man, who I know is a kind of front-man for The Dominion regarding next-gen lab equipment purchases. His Id's just passed U.S. customs last night. Since The Dominion wasn't counting on their best labs to be destroyed, it appears they have had to start some things from scratch" 

"Hey, anything good?" Shalimar asked as she entered the room with Brennan close behind her.

"Yeah. Lexa has found what might be our first lead into finding Adam" Jesse answered the feral.

"Are you sure about this?" Brennan asked.

"Positive" Lexa said.

"Where is he?" The elemental asked.

"From what I can tell, he is in Miami. We need to get there fast or risk losing him" She answered.

"OK. Brennan and I will go. I'll make all the arrangements" Jesse said.

"What? What about us?" Lexa was perplexed.

"Look, I've thought it over and I think you and Shalimar should stay behind and start on trying to rebuild the Helix. The schematics for the Helix is the only thing we do have and since we don't have all the materials we need, the only things we can start to rebuild are quite easy and within you capabilities to do so" Jesse said very matter-of-factly.

"Wait, no. I'm going" Shalimar protested.

"So am I" Lexa added.

"Well, it doesn't sound a bad plan" Brennan said " Besides, we really will need a better means of transportation that commercial planes. And we need new coms. Shal, you could work on that while Lexa starts on the Helix" he added. "Think about it, Shal. It makes sense. There is no point of all of us going. And if we need more intel, it won't be very easy to access it from Miami. We need someone here"

Shalimar didn't want to admit it and neither did Lexa -who was giving Jesse a very furtive look that Brennan didn't even want to look at her- but it did make sense. 

"Fine" Shalimar said through gritted teeth "But be safe and call us the moment you land" She concluded. 

Lexa just stood, gave Brennan and Jesse one last glance, and left the room without further ado. 

"We'll leave in about two hours" Jesse said to Brennan who was looking the way Lexa had left.

"Is everything all right?" Shalimar asked staring after Lexa, as well.

"Never better" Jesse said in a voice that sounded far from honest. And with that, he left to prepare for their trip leaving Brennan and Shalimar wondering what had happened. 

* * *

**A/N:** Things are gonna get more active. Stay tunned. 


End file.
